How Now Brown Cow

I pass a curious spectacle most days on my way to office. One that makes me smile as well as feel warm around the general direction of the heart.

If you ask me about the milk of human kindness, I'd say that it's pretty much run dry at the teat. But I'm glad to report that the milk of animal kindness is still flowing like the Nile in spate. It gushes like the Ganges, flows like the Florence and pretty much brims over like the Brahmaputra.

What I refer to is the unlikely alliance of a cow and a dog. While most dogs chase cows, and most cows kick dogs, these two exhibit a friendship based on nothing short of mutual respect. They are to be found lying in the middle of the road at a busy junction on my way to work.

I'd like to this moment to explain to my readers from other countries that cows are to be found commonly running amock in towns and cities all over India. It is not therefore a surprise to see an 18 wheeler humbled to a complete halt, to make way for a bovine being. And though my friends from foreign climes often whip out a camera at the sight, I simply yawn to show my disregard towards this mundane manifestation. And so it is common to see a cow lying down to rest in the middle of the street, while VIP cavalcades, buses, rickshaws and other methods of transportation amble by without a glance.

What makes this different is that the aforementioned duo sleep in each other's lie. The cow lies in the shape of a spoon so that the dog can complete the formation and lie in the space left over. This way, the dog is assured of uninterrupted sleep which would otherwise be cut short with either unabated honking, or death.

And since most relationships are two sided, I can only assume that the dog does something for the cow in its time of need. What it is, I can only imagine. Maybe it challenges other dogs that might otherwise pester the cow. Maybe it pesters other cows that seek to displace the cow from its appointed bedroom.

No matter what the reason, I am amused and humbled. If two species that are so genetically apart can be so accomodating, maybe there is hope for mankind after all.

That said, I need to go now. Got to kick servicing's ass for giving me the wrong brief. Wait till I get my hands on that little runt. Why I'm going to.......